Adetoun Fadekemi Akinmboni is a Nigerian born and raised, American based self-taught abstract painter working under the name Kemi Akinmboni. Her work is raw, gestural, and unapologetically emotional, built from layered paint, physical mark making, and an unwillingness to separate the personal from the visual.
Born in Lagos and shaped by a life lived across cultures, Kemi began painting in 2018 while navigating a full-time corporate career. Taking a leap of faith, she committed to her practice fully. The work that emerged is a direct reflection of that, unguarded, alive, and made without permission.
Her current body of work is a deeply personal collection rooted in identity, emotion, and the ongoing process of becoming. Now fully in her practice, she is excited to explore new processes, push her material boundaries, and let the work lead.
Kemi has exhibited in group exhibitions and created commissioned works for private collectors and corporate spaces.
She paints because she has to.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I paint because I have to.
Not because it is easy. Not because the market called for it. I paint because it is one of the few things I do even when I am scared. The fear of rejection, of failure, of not being enough, it is all there when I pick up a brush. I paint anyway.
My work is not made to beautify. It is not made to satisfy a certain group, class, or gender. It is made with vulnerability in mind. The rawness you feel standing in front of my canvas is the same rawness I felt making it. That is not accidental. That is the point.
I am Nigerian born, American based. I paint from the place that refuses to be one thing, that holds contradiction without needing to resolve it.
I began painting in 2018. Corporate life restricted how raw I could be. I took a leap of faith. What I make now is a full reflection of letting go of the fear of perfection and enjoying the process of creation.
I am still becoming. The work is proof of that.